Seattle — About 250 pilots employed by a subsidiary of Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) went on strike to protest against alleged staffing shortages at the cargo carrier, threatening to ground flights for Amazon.com and DHL Worldwide Express during the busy holiday shopping season. ATSG’s ABX Air operates 35 flights a day for Amazon and 45 daily flights for DHL, which will be affected by the strike, says the Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224, which represents the pilots. The action comes as the retail industry’s busiest period gets into full swing and spending continues to shift from physical stores to computers and smartphones. Online spending in November and December will increase 11% in 2016 to $91.6bn, according to an October forecast from Adobe Systems. The union says ABX Air is violating its contract by forcing pilots to work an excessive number of emergency assignments — preventing them from taking time off — because it does not have enough pilots to ...
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